Making History
by Casey Jewels
Summary: After committing treason, the desert dweller Martina is left alone to contemplate her fate.


Notes: I am participating in the 100 Themes Challenge, of which there is several different variations over the Web. Theme 3 in the list I am using is 'making history', which is why this story is called such. The character in this story is mine, and the setting stems from a roleplay I was in. Two characters are mentioned in this story who aren't mine. Huran belongs to manysidestome, while Luceon belongs to Leo.

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Making History

_"The real questions are the ones that obtrude upon your consciousness whether you like it or not, the ones that make your mind start vibrating like a jackhammer, the ones that you "come to terms with" only to discover that they are still there. The real questions refuse to be placated. They barge into your life at the times when it seems most important for them to stay away. They are the questions asked most frequently and answered most inadequately, the ones that reveal their true natures slowly, reluctantly, most often against your will."_  
- Ingrid Bengis

Traitor.

She was a traitor.

But to whom?

To her own people?

To the Shadow Angels?

To both?

To neither?

Or to herself?

The assassin ran a hand through her light purple hair and let out a sigh. Her piercing blue eyes slid shut and she began to rock back and forth on the edge of her bed, with her knees pulled up close against her and her arms wrapped around them, in an attempt to drive the questions from her mind. But they wouldn't leave. If anything, they grew worse. The rocking motion had caused her back to flare up with pain, reminding her of the battle, and the fact that her back had been cut open by a sword--a sword that had been wielded by her childhood friend.

In her people's eyes, she had betrayed them. In the Shadow Angels' eyes, she had betrayed them. In her own eyes...

Images of the battle flashed through her mind. She had attacked her homeland. She had fought and killed her childhood friend. She had fought and killed the chief-of-police. But she had also warned her homeland of the attack beforehand. And she had led her troops poorly, when she could have done much better. She had lied about the strengths and weaknesses of the capitol. She had given an antidote to one of the enemy. And she had tried to kill her fellow Knight Angel, or general, with one of her poisoned daggers--a fact that he was well aware of.

So yes, maybe she had betrayed both. But was it really treason when she didn't know whose side she was on?

She slipped a hand into one of the inner pockets of her desert garb, but there was nothing there for her searching fingers to grasp. She bit her lip as she withdrew her hand, her mind fast forwarding to what had happened after the Land of Fire had fallen.

She had tried to sneak away, but the other Knight Angel, Huran, had been watching her. He had had her seized. She hadn't been expecting it, nor had she had the strength at the time to escape. She had been searched then, and all of her weapons and Pokemon had been taken from her. And then she had been taken directly back to the Shadow Angel base. But Shadow Archangel Luceon, the mastermind behind the Shadow Angels, had been too busy to see to her at the time, so she had been locked in her very own room--after it was also searched for both weapons and evidence of treason, of course.

And so she had waited here, for the past hour. And here she continued to wait, with nothing to do but recall all of the mistakes in her past, and to worry about the future.

Martina's rocking motion stopped and for a moment all there was, was pain. Then her eyes flickered open, landing on the large map of the known world pinned against the far wall, and she found herself distracted by memories once more. The world was nothing more than a collection of large islands, all of which rested close to one another. She had been to each and every one of those islands, for one reason or another, for one side or another. Some she had helped fortify. Some she had helped tear down.

Her eyes watered and she turned her head away from the map, unable to look at it any longer.

"The only thing worse than a traitor is a traitor who doesn't know where she belongs."

The words haunted her, sounding and resounding in her mind. The boy had said them to her, during the battleâ€"the boy that she had given the antidote too.

"I messed up good," she said to herself, the light brown ghutra wrapped around her head and the lower half of her face muffling her words into a mere whisper. She reached up and wiped her tears away before they could fall, determined not to cry.

The click of a lock reached her ears and she turned just in time to see her door open and two Shadow Angel grunts step inside her room.

"Luceon requires your presence."

Martina nodded and rose to her feet without a sound, or the slightest hint of emotion on her face. She stepped out of the room, and the grunts followed. Huran came into view then, his eyes cold and furious as they gazed at her. She just simply held her head high and walked right on by him. He fell into step beside her, obviously there to make sure she didn't try and escapeâ€"not that she really could, with her injured back and all. The pain was enough to make her vision grow fuzzy, but she didn't let it show. Pain was weakness, and she was anything but weak.

"It doesn't matter what lies you try to feed him," Huran said a few minutes later, as they came to a halt in front of Luceon's room. "You're not going to escape the consequences of your actions, Martina. I know what I saw, and I saw treason."

Martina didn't bother to acknowledge his words. She just simply drew in a deep breath, gave a warning knock, and then stepped into the room. Huran stepped in behind her, and Luceon's cold gaze studied her. In that instant, she realized the truth of Huran's words. As good as she was at appearing something she wasn't, she wasn't going to worm herself out of this one.

She had betrayed the Shadow Angels.

She had betrayed her people.

She had betrayed herself.

She was a traitor.

Traitor...

And now she had to pay the price.


End file.
